4Sight resumes trading on JSE after months of high drama

After a dramatic year for technology group 4Sight Holdings, which ended in a boardroom coup, the JSE has lifted the suspension of trading in its shares.

The JSE suspended the share at the beginning of November after the group failed to publish its interim financial results for the six months to June 2019 in the time frame required under listing rules.

At the end of October, a dramatic board shake-up saw four directors quit 4Sight’s board and seven new directors appointed.

Vincent Raseroka, Gary Lauryssen, Jason du Plessis and Tinus Neethling all resigned from the board. Joining the board were Tertius Zitzke (CEO), Eric van der Merwe (chief financial officer), Marichen Mortimer, Johan Nel, Christopher Crowe, Andrew Murgatroyd and Herman Singh.

The appointments ended a battle between rival shareholder groupings for control of 4Sight.

4Sight said last month that it now had a “fit-for-purpose board with the requisite skills to develop a long-term strategy capitalising on the group’s excellent potential in the area of the fourth Industrial Revolution”.

“This is an important milestone in getting the company back on track,” said Zitzke in a statement on Friday. “The board has made substantial progress during its short time in office, and the business is now in a positive position to deliver on growth targets for 2020.”

‘Robust governance’

“Now that we have a robust governance structure in place, the group is in a position to capitalise on its strong cash flows and skills base by repositioning itself as an integrated provider of solutions related to the fourth Industrial Revolution,” he said.

“The board and exco of 4Sight have agreed that the best way to position the group for growth is to ensure stronger alignment between all the group subsidiaries to provide end-to-end solutions for customers. This presents a change from its past position, where 4Sight saw itself primarily as a holding company,” Zitzke said.

“4Sight is greater than the sum of its parts. This value-adding approach will be supported by the strong governance we have put in place, along with integrated back-office processes.”

The group’s share price rose by 1c, or 5%, to 21c/share in mid-morning trading in Johannesburg after the suspension in trade was lifted.  — © 2019 NewsCentral Media